say hi to_ Corea Corner

You may have seen our announcement last week, with all that we have been working on behind the scenes to go OFFLINE. One beautiful project we have been developing with the Korean Institute of Design Promotion and a curated creative team between Paris and Seoul, has finally come to fruition.

The Korean Institute of Design Promotion, or 'KIDP', knowing our obsession with South Korean design - called on us at the beginning of summer to work with them to bring thirty Korean Designers of their choice to Paris during the Design Week. If you didn't already know, behind the magazine and instagram, say hi to_ is a creative agency which does art direction, production and communications for special creative projects. KIDP invited us to create a concept to introduce their industrial and object designers to the Paris creative scene.

We carefully selected a creative team of Parisian and South Korean creatives to collaborate on the creative and aesthetic aspects of the project. For the next three weeks you can stop by the Korean Design Pop Up in Le Marais in Paris. Have a look below to meet say hi to_'s curated creative team, my personal favourite finds of KIDP's selection of designers, details about the events we have coming up and photos of the project!

dateSeptember 13, 2017

say hi to_'s creative team

Set Design_ Ubalt Architects

Nastasia Potel and Mylène Vasse created Ubalt Architectes together, after finishing their studies at ENSA Versailles. They began working together on projects in interior architecture and set design in France, as well as abroad, on projects taking them from Belgium to Vietnam. I first discovered their work when they participated in Villa Noailles ‘Design Parade’ 2017. I felt that their work was not only very contemporary and innovative but very much on the pulse of trends to come. I love their experimental use of material and colour and was curious to see how they would translate their interpretation of contemporary Korean Design through set design. In this project they aimed to question the manufacturing process of the objet. This concept was materialised through three materials, industrial in origin, expressing three instances of the creation.

Set Design_ Christopher Dessus

Christopher Dessus is a multidisciplinary creative with a breadth spanning from traditional architecture, the visual arts, publishing and set design. Graduating from ENSA Versailles alongside Nastasia and Mylène, they found a creative synergy among them which lead to various collaborations all together. After publishing an architectural review named ‘Pli’, about architecture and publishing, in 2015 he went on to work on set design and exhibitions at the famed ‘Villa Noailles’s in Hyères. Christopher has now launched a hybrid agency combining both a publishing house and an architectural firm. Adding a little something extra, he came on to work alongside Ubalt Architectes on translating Korean Design in the shop’s set design.

Communications Design_ Pedro Seromenho

Pedro Seromenho, a Portuguese graphic designer, came to France to pursue an undergraduates degree in graphic design at l’École Supérieure d’Arts de Bretagne , going on to finish his masters degree at Arts Décoratifs de Strasbourg in 2014. The multidisciplinary and multifaceted designer’s bold, minimalistic yet very unexpected designs caught my eye with his work for Paris based Artist’s Management Agency, POLY-. Not often being stopped in my tracks with phenomenal graphic design, this young designer’s work stuck with me and I patiently waited for the perfect project to bring him on board. Being multidisciplinary in his skills: from websites, to publishing, to visual identity - I knew he would be perfect to translate the spirit of Korean Design with a European flair.

Fine Artist_ Lee Sol of Venus Mansion

Lee Sol, blowing up on instagram and then taking on the art world this past year, with his thought provoking and playful digital imagery - was a natural choice to collaborate on a fine art installation. Completing a bachelor’s degree at Hansung University in Interior Design, Lee has since gone on to explore how personal emotions influence space. His project ‘Venus Mansion’ showcases surrealistic scenes, juxtaposing classical roman sculptures and various objects using 3D programs in playful and puzzling ways. Lee’s use of ancient European creative references, candy hued color palettes and experimental use of digital mediums to create fine art embodied the curious and innovative spirit of Korean Design for this project.

Creative Food Agency_ Phamily First

Phamily First is a curated creative food agency based out of Paris started by Julien Pham. When I was first introduced to Julien’s work, by a colleague of mine at the legendary production company here in Paris, Brachfeld Agency, I was very intrigued by Phamily First’s curated and innovative take on catering. With an impressively broad network of chef’s and knowledge of the local gastronomy scene here in Paris, Julien hand picks specific chefs to participate in fun, creative and new forms of quality catering. They chose to carefully select a Japanese chef to translate Korean food with a twist - for a mini event they will be hosting at Corea Corner.

Kristen's Top Five Favourite Design Finds

Normally when we do exhibitions or pop up shops we are usually curating the designers being featured. For this project, the tables were turned and we were discovering KIDP's selection of brands for the first time like everyone else. We generally cover haute gamme fine art and furniture design and know a lot of South Korean designers in these disciplines - so it was really fun to discover more accessible brands, many of which we had never heard of before. From industrial design to high end tablewear, ceramics, electronics and beauty products - KIDP brought a wide range of design in their breadth of products they wanted to introduce. Have a look at a few of my favourite finds below.

1. Damoon

As we set up the shop I was immediately drawn to this set of beautiful tablewear. Chaehoon, the founder of Damoon stopped in the store the other day and told me all about her creative process, photos of her workshop where she hand makes each piece and some interesting facts behind the products. The material, Yuhgee, a traditional Korean brassware is a mix of copper and tin and is the material the royal family's tablewear was made of. Fun fact - it changes color as it detects poison, in case you invite some shady frenemies to your next get together.

2. Onjeom

When we unpacked Onjeom's ceramics, I was instantly impressed with the simple yet chic forms. These handmade, oatmeal colored speckled ceramics come in a set of bowls and mugs. I am imagining having this set to have brunch with the girls out in my Parisian rose garden on Sunday morning! Very cozy and elegant.

3. BKID

I needed to see and hold BKID’s substantial and luxurious products in real life to really appreciate this work, as photos do not do them justice. Beautiful, simple forms are brought to life with rich finishings and the weight of the dense caste iron. From vases to bottle openers to beautiful traditional cooking pots - BKID brought forth a diverse line of modern design objects.

4. found/Founded

found/Founded is a design brand creating on trend, playful yet sophisticated tabletop objects to spruce up any empty desk. I like their mix of materials and functionality, from a geometric form which can serve as a sculpture, be used to display jewellery or once the metal top is removed - will reveal a base for a tea candle within.

5. MOTE

At this point, we have already introduced MOTE to you on several occasions but I want to highlight the soap and candle brand again, as I love them from A-Z. Founded by a strong, young female entrepreneur, organic and handmade in Seoul and sophisticated art direction are just some of the extras on top of the beautiful soaps. After meeting Vora of MOTE for the first time the other afternoon, I learned that each soap is also created with specific plants to address different skin types.

The Shop

Ever wonder what industrial materials, neon signs and pink bubble wrap juxtaposed against pink gravel looked like inside of a shop, in the center of Paris looked like? Oh really, you haven't? Well have a look anyways...

Photos by Valentin Fougeuray.

Upcoming Events

At our opening party during the Paris Design week we got the chance to see a lot to local design community, tons of friends who were in town for Design Week and meet some new interesting people who passed by with friends. We hope to see even more of you at the next events we have coming up in the next two and a half weeks!

Vora of MOTE and Chaehoon of Damoon will join us in Paris on Thursday night from Seoul. They will give us a presentation of their companies, discussing starting a business as a young female designer, their design process and we will finish with a 'table rond' where I will discuss the contemporary design landscape of South Korea with both designers. Come join us for a drink at our shop at 12 rue des Filles du Calvaire 75003 Paris (will be held in French)

Closing PartySeptember 27th from 7pm - 10pm

Join us for one last drink and hoorah and shop KIDP's selection of 30 South Korean Designers at our pop up shop location at 12 rue des Filles du Calvaire 75003 Paris

say hi to_ Corea Corner12 rue des Filles du Calvaire75003 Paris

Have a look at...

Villa Noailles Design Parade is an annual event which consists of two contests for up and coming talent in the realm of design, held between two adjacent seaside cities in the South of France, as well as a series of installations around each city for guests to discover.

Have a look at what I discovered from each contest and the winners!

There are few things I love more than discovering new projects and spaces around Paris started by other young creatives. So when I received an e-mail from Aapo Nikkanen, a Finnish artist living in Paris, inviting me to visit a new exhibition space to discover their creative intiative 'The Community: Offline' - I was very curious to check it out.